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| China Ant Group is looking into options for leaving Jack Ma |
Ant Group is looking for founder Jack Ma to give up its stake in the fintech giant and its power to control franchises, as meetings with Chinese regulators indicate the move could help control Beijing affairs.
From January to March, officials from the People's Bank of China, Bank of China and the Bureau of Financial Regulation and Insurance (CBIRC) held talks with the Jack Ma and Ant Group, to discuss the company's businessman's withdrawal. Possibility.
The group denied that they had not considered withdrawing Jack's investment. A spokesman for the group said in a statement: The withdrawal of Jack Ma's investment in Ante Group has not been discussed with anyone.
The group had hoped that the billion-dollar shares of Jack Ma would be sold to existing investors in the group or its e-commerce subsidiary Alibaba without the interference of outside companies.
In discussions with regulators, Jack Ma was told that he should not sell his shares to a closely related company or person, but that he should withdraw completely.
Another option is to transfer shares to Chinese government investors. Beijing must agree to any decision.
On the company side, Jack Ma met the organizers more than once before New Year's celebrations in early February.
The ant group began investigating Jack Ma's possible exit plan about two months ago, and at a meeting before mid-March, they informed officials that they would study the plan.
The discussion took place on the occasion of the group's restructuring and a broader regulatory campaign against the Chinese tech industry. The movement began with Jack Ma's public criticism of the organizers in a speech he gave last October.
Jack Ma's exit could pave the way for the group to restart its IPO plan, which was put on hold after the billionaire's speech.
The group will raise approximately $ 37 billion in capital in what will be the largest public offering in the world.
Since then, Beijing has launched a series of new investigations and regulations to contain Jack Ma's empire and devour China's tech industries.
Although Jack Ma had previously left the company, he retained effective control over Ant Group and had a major influence over Alibaba.
Although it owns only 10% of the financial group, it exercises control through subsidiaries.
Yunbo controls two units that hold a total of 50.5% of the ant group. Yunbo could decide all matters related to the group. Jack Ma owns 34% of the shares in Yunbo.